The properties of porous PTFE membrane, including its mechanical strength, chemical resistance or inertness, non-adhesiveness, excellent dielectric property, thermal stability at high temperature and low coefficient of friction make it very attractive for various applications. However, for certain applications, it will be beneficial to improve its wetting characteristics without affecting its intrinsic properties. Efforts have been made to modify one or more properties of PTFE membranes. However, many of these efforts result in reduction in one or more of PTFE's attractive properties, for example, mechanical strength.
The foregoing shows that there exists an unmet need for preparing porous PTFE membranes with improved wetting characteristics without significantly affecting its mechanical strength.